


Ankle

by puffythepig



Category: Futurama, The Simpsons
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Crushes, F/F, First Kiss, Fluff and Humor, Humor, M/M, Multi, One Shot, Pining, Time Travel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-04
Updated: 2020-05-04
Packaged: 2021-03-02 20:35:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,875
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24002920
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/puffythepig/pseuds/puffythepig
Summary: There had been talk of a new family moving into Springfield for a few weeks now. Gossip about them had spread fast, and it was starting to annoy Bart. What was with adults and gossiping?It was just another sorry family of losers who ended up in Springfield somehow.Why was it so interesting to them?
Relationships: Bart Simpson/Milhouse Van Houten, Luann van Houten/Sherrilyn Fry, Philip J. Fry/Bender Rodriguez
Comments: 1
Kudos: 34





	Ankle

**Author's Note:**

> Alright, so basically this takes place in an alternative universe where instead of Fry traveling to the future, the planet express crew travels back in time by accident. Bender travels back first, and this takes place before the others arrive.

There had been talk of a new family moving into Springfield for a few weeks now. Gossip about them had spread fast, and it was starting to annoy Bart. What was with adults and gossiping? It was just another sorry family of losers who ended up in Springfield somehow. Why was it so interesting to them?

Bart was currently more interested in Milhouse, or more-so, the way his mother currently was dressed. She easily looked like she had just jumped out of the 80’s with her shiny shorts, striped tank-top, and warmers on both her legs and arms. An ugly cheetah-print headband even adorned her head, and Bart burst into laughter the moment she left the room.

“Why the hell is she dressed like that, Milhouse?”

The blue-haired boy just rolled his eyes dramatically and turned the game system in front of the television on. “I already told you, Bart. She joined Flanders jogging group.”

“That’s so dumb.” He laughed and saw his friend’s irritated pout, changing his tone. “I wonder if he preaches to them when they jog.”

Snorting, Milhouse tossed a controlled Bart’s way. “…no, but he makes them sing hymns.”

Bart laughed loudly again, clutching at his sides. “Of course, he does.”

The two sat and played their game until it was night, and Marge called and told Bart to come on home.

“I wonder why Mom isn’t home yet.” Milhouse lamented.

Bart shrugged. “She’s probably just exhausted. I would be after jogging for fun.” He elbowed his friend, but Milhouse kept his tight expression.

“I dunno, I’m kinda worried.”

“Awh, I’m sure she’s fine, Mil.”

Milhouse only let out a worried hum, sitting uncomfortably on the couch. “Are you sure you have to go home just yet?” The dorky boy tried to rush to defend his desperateness. “We have icecream in the freezer and can make some sundaes before Mom gets home.”

Snorting, Bart wanted badly to agree, but his phone buzzing again in his pocket told him it was time to go. “I’m sorry, Milhouse, I gotta—”

Before he could finish his statement, the door flew open, and Luann stumbled in, dragging a young man with bright orange hair in with her. An older woman with matching hair and a younger man with dark hair followed her, as they sat the orange-haired man on the couch.

Curiously, Bart and Milhouse peeked over at the group that gathered around the couch, listening closely to their conversation.

“Thank you so much, Miss Van Houten. I don’t know what I would have done if you weren’t there.”

“It’s nothing, Miss Fry. Now, I’ll call Dr. Hibbert, and he’ll get a better look at your son’s ankle.”

The mentioned man on the couch groaned out in pain. “I’m pretty sure it’s broken.”

The other man in the room slapped himself onto the couch and looked at the foot. “Stop being such a big baby, Phil. You only twisted it a little.”

“Shut up, Yancy. I wouldn’t have fallen down if _you_ hadn’t put a spider in my shirt!”

Bart laughed aloud at that. A classic prank. He had pulled that one on his sister before.

At the sound of his laughter, all eyes in the room settled to the two 10 year-olds, who creeped out from their hiding spot in the corner.

Upon seeing them, the orange-haired woman cooed and leaned down and took a long look at the kids. “Awh, are these yours?”

“The blue-haired one is. Bart is his friend. He lives a few houses down. Now, I’ll go call Dr. Hibbert.” Luanna left the room to make her phone call.

“Well, it’s nice to meet you two.” She turned her attention back to her own sons. The brunette of the two, Yancy, looked down at the boys.

“Sorry to just burst into your house. Little Phillip here is a little clumsy and twisted his ankle up, and your moms house was the nearest place we could take him, since we don’t know the town that well yet.”

“And I wouldn’t have to come here and bother you guys at all if it wasn’t for Yancy putting a daddy long leg in my shirt.”

“Oh, calm down, Phil! Your boyfriend thought it was funny.”

“Wh—I told you Bender isn’t my boyfriend!”

“Then why were you two holding hands earlier?” 

“I already TOLD you, Yancy! He wasn’t holding my hand, he was trying to push me in the creek!” The orange-haired man whined out.

“Then why is he out buying you daisies to ‘cheer you up’ over your twisted ankle?”

Rolling his eyes, the brother leaned back. “Because I’m allergic to daisies?”

Luann returned from the other room sighing. “I’m so sorry, but Dr. Hibbert won’t be available until tomorrow. You are your sons are free to stay the night, Sherrilyn.”

“Oh, you’re too kind, Luann.” The other woman said in a sweet voice that would make demons vomit.

“Well, I gotta go, Milhouse. Do you wanna get some Kwik-E-Mart squishees tomorrow?” Bart asked his friend, the other two males in the room looking over curiously.

“Squishees? Like a slushy?” The man propped up on the couch sat up slightly.

“Yeah, but they have way more syrup.” Bart replied, and Milhouse laughed in agreement before waving goodbye to his friend.

The next day, Bart made his way back to the Van Houten’s house, immediately walking in on an argument between Milhouse and the younger brother. “I’m telling you, there was not an episode where Uhura and Spock killed and ate Kirk! Spock and Kirk were in love, Spock would _never_ do that!” The orange-haired man hollered, and Milhouse crossed his arms.

“I’m telling you, it happened! You just have bad memory!”

“Unrelated!”

Rolling his eyes and stopping beside Milhouse, Bart smirked at the scene. “Ready for those squishees?”

Redirecting all his attention to the treat, Milhouse fist bumped the air. “Yeah I am! What flavor are—”

A groan came from the kitchen and Luann marched in. “Alright, I talked to your mom Fry, you and your brother are going to go with my son and his friend to the Kwik-E-Mart.” She opened up the hall closet and pushed some crutches towards him. “Doctor Hibbert should be here by lunch time.”

“Awh, I don’t wanna babysit Phil,” Yancy groaned and entered the room, glaring at his brother, as his mother followed him.

“Too bad. You two are giving me a headache. ‘Mom where’s my phone,’ ‘Mom can you order pizza,’ ‘Mom I need more painkillers.’ How about I ask for something? Maybe a break and a little wine?” Sherrilyn replied, and Luann bounced to her side.

“Oh, that sounds like a good idea. I think I have a bottle somewhere.” 

“Sounds like a plan to me!” Sherrilyn laughed. “Go ahead and get outta here, boys.”

Rolling his eyes, the orange-haired brother pulled himself to his feet and onto the crutches, following after the rest of the group that had already made their way outside.

After being told he couldn’t drive their mother’s car, Yancy and the rest of the group began walking towards the Kwik-E-Mart, led by an energetic Bart and Milhouse. “Hey Yancy, can you pull my phone out of my pocket? I need to check and see where Bender is.”

“Awh, worried about your boyfriend?” Yancy mocked, pulling out the phone and handing it to his brother.

“I still don’t get that.” Milhouse said suddenly, a sudden grimace on his face. “Why do you keep acting like him having a boyfriend is a bad thing?”

The two adults went quiet for a minute. Bart rolled his eyes. “It’s because they’re adults, Milhouse. They laugh at things that don’t make sense and don’t laugh at cartoons enough.”

“That’s lame.” Milhouse added, shrugging as they rounded the corner to the Kwik-E-Mart. “Race ya there!” Milhouse hollered, attempting to shove Bart back slightly but accidentally pushing Phil back without a care as he raced forward.

“Cool, Bender says he’ll be here any minute. Says I better leave some squishee for him.”

“So you’re gonna share? Like an indirect kiss? Sure sounds like you’re dating.” Yancy added, with the last part under his breath.

Rolling his eyes, Phil pulled himself up with his brother’s help. “Or like he doesn’t wanna pay for his own, dingus.”

“Hey, I’m not a dingu—OW!” Without missing a beat, Phil smacked at his brother’s legs with his crutches and moved forward as fast as he could on them without making himself fall over.

Once they had bought their squishees, the group sat on the curb and relaxed in the summer sun until a shiny being approached them. “Scoot over, meat bags.”

“Finally, you’re here!” Phil whined out, scooting over as the robot sat beside him, the children staring in awe.

“Woah, are you a robot?” Milhouse finally asked, and the mentioned robot rolled his opticals away from the human child.

“No, he’s just a really good cosplayer.” Phil said nonchalantly, handing his squishee to the bot.

“Who is he cosplaying?” Bart asked, his arms crossed.

“My DnD character, duh.” Bender added, somehow slurping up some of the drink. “So, where did the smurf take you yesterday?”

Gasping, Milhouse set his drink down loudly. “My mom is NOT a smurf!”

“ _Sure,”_ Bender said sarcastically, looking over at the crutches. “Eh, this is the best they could get you? Thought they had some better healthcare options in this year.”

Phil elbowed the robot in the side before wincing and holding his elbow. “Shut up.”

“Yeah, yeah.” The robot finished the drink, vibrating in place. “Say, where are we going next?”

Yancy shrugged. “We were gonna walk doofus and the kids home.”

“Cool. What do you mean by home? The smurf’s house?”

“That’s it!” Milhouse yelled, leaping onto Bender and trying his best to dent the metal with his little fists. Instead of fighting back, Bender started laughing and lifted the boy up by the scruff of his shirt, standing up and setting him back on the ground. Refusing to give up, Milhouse launched forward again and held tightly to the robot’s leg, smacking it.

“Get ‘im, Millie!” Bart cheered, mimicking a referee and pretending to count down on the ground until Bender finally shook him off, sending the boy flying against his friend.

Rolling off his friend, Milhouse pouted over at the robot again and started to run towards him again when Bart pulled him back by the back of his shirt. “Come on, he’s not worth it. Let’s get home and play some more video games.”  
  


“Fine, but I better not hear him insult my mom again!” Milhouse warned and Bender feigned fear before rolling his eyes when Milhouse’s focus shifted away from him. “Now, wanna race home?”

“Yeah, let’s do it.” Bart added, and Bender interjected.

“Wait, I’ve got a genius idea. Fry and me against you two, let’s race.”

“Uhh, how is … _Fry,_ gonna run home? He’s on crutches, dude.” Bart replied, crossing his arms.

“Oh, you’ll see.” Bender added, staring down at the sassy children. “If we beat you, you give me five dollars. You lose, Fry gives you five dollars. Sound like a deal?”

The kids shared a look before nodding. “Alright, deal.”

“C’mon, Bender, you can’t just make kids gamble.” Yancy snarled, and Bender rolled his opticals again and smacked the back of the man’s head.

“Shut it, ugly-version-of-Fry. You have to keep up and decide who wins.” Bender answered, leaning down and lifting Fry onto his shoulders and tossing the crutches towards Yancy. “Oh, and carry these.”

Yancy grumbled and agreed, counting down to one and watching amused as the groups raced off as fast as they could, Yancy following as quickly as he could manage.

Finally, Yancy reached the yard, nearly passing out on the lawn. “So, who won? It was obviously us.” Bender said, swiping the crutches back and allowing Fry to dismount his shoulders.

“Only because you treated! When we were close to the end, he picked us up and threw us backwards!” Milhouse hollered, and Bender shrugged.

“Just give me 5 dollars once we get inside.“ Bender threw open the front door, revealing Luann and Sherrilyn kissing tenderly on the couch.

Upon hearing the door open they broke apart, glancing over the several surprised faces. “Oh, um, welcome home.” Luann said, standing up and straightening her shirt. “Dr. Hibbert will be here very soon.” Awkwardly, she ushered Bart and Milhouse to the back yard.

“Can’t believe your mom is into ladies, Milhouse.” Bart said nonchalantly, laying in the grass and smashing ants with his fingers. “did you know she liked that Sherrilyn lady?”

“I had no clue.” Milhouse shrugged. “I’m happy for her, I guess. She’s had boyfriends before, though, so I guess this is no different.”

“Guess so. How long do her boyfriends usually last?”

“Maybe a month? She says it’s because she’s older and guys don’t stay interested in her.”

“Hm. Anyways, you wanna go play in the sprinkler at my house?” Bart asked, standing up off the ground and pulling his friend up, who quickly agreed.

The day two months had passed and his mom was still dating Sherrilyn, Milhouse and Bart got ready for their sleepover at the Simpsons in the living room, scrolling through the channels and deciding what to watch. When they couldn’t find any cartoons they wanted to watch, they settled on a cheesy horror movie, their popcorn between them. The night dragged on and the film ended up catching Milhouse’s attention sharply; it was about a mother getting married and forgetting about her daughter, which led her to kill her mother and step-father. As the movie started to come to an end, Milhouse turned and stared at Bart for a moment.

“Hey, you don’t think that’ll happen to me, do you?” Milhouse asked quietly.

“Are you asking if I think you’ll become a murderer, Mil? Because the answer is no, but if you do, I’ll help you hide the body.”

Shaking his head, Milhouse propped himself up on his elbow better. “You know what I mean… do you think my mom will forget about me because she has a girlfriend now?”

“Milhouse, that won’t happen to you.”

“Are you sure?”

Bart rolled his eyes. “No, but I doubt it will. I mean, c’mon, your mom obviously cares too much about you.”

Milhouse nodded slowly. “I know you’re right, it’s just so believable in the movie…”

Thinning his lips and considering ways to cheer up his friend, Bart flew to his feet in a rush, holding out his hand to him. “Let’s take what’s left of our popcorn and make a milkshake out of it.”

“But your parents are asleep, and it would probably be really loud…”

“Exactly.” Bart waited no longer and grabbed Milhouse’s hand, grabbing the popcorn bucket with the other and racing to the kitchen, cheering his friend up instantly for the time being.

After being scolded by both Marge and Homer and told to go to bed, the two stayed whispering in the dark. “Hey, just in case, could you help me sabotage their date they have coming up? My mom bought some expensive wine and they were gonna drink it and dance around the house, so what if we fill the wine with vinegar and cover the floor in oil?”

Letting out a sinister laugh, Bart agreed. “I can’t believe your mom said I have a bad influence on you before when you’re the one coming up with stuff like that. I’m in.”

The next Friday, their plan was put into motion. All of the wine had been drank by the robot and Fry, who they locked in the bathroom. Once Sherrilyn was heard knocking at the door, Bart and Milhouse rushed into the kitchen and hid in some cabinets until the greeting had commented down. Slowly, they made their way to the kitchen doorway and peeked out as Luann slid and fell onto the floor. Sherrilyn attempted to help her up but fell as well, making both women laugh.

“This isn’t going as planned, Bart. We need to make it worse.”

“Shh, just trust the process.” Bart said in a shushed tone, setting his hand on Milhouse’s to comfort him.

The two women finally crawled their way over to the couch, laughing the whole way. “We haven’t even drank any wine yet and we’re already slipping, Sher.” Luann said sweetly, still pouring both of them a drink. “To us.” Luann said, toasting the other as they both took a sip, gulping it down before realizing the rancid taste. Upon noticing it, Luann coughed. “That’s what I get for buying cheap wine, isn’t it?”

Sherrilyn just laughed aloud with the other before clearing her throat. “Well, this isn’t where I was originally going to ask, but I can’t wait any longer, Luann,” the orange-haired woman pulled a little velvet box out of her purse and opened it slowly, revealing a beautiful sapphire ring. “will you marry me?”

“NO!” Milhouse screamed out in unison with his mother’s happy yes. When the two adults glanced over at the children in the doorway, they both attempted to stand up and approach them but slipped once again. Milhouse took his chance and ran outside and straight to the Simpsons house, followed closely by Bart. Quickly the boys clambered into the treehouse, where once inside Milhouse burst into tears.

Cautiously, Bart wrapped his arms around his friend and hugged him tightly as he let out heavy sobs. “She’s gonna forgot about me Bart, and I’m gonna become a murderer!”

After a few minutes of his friend’s sobbing, Bart pulled away and cupped Milhouse’s face. “C’mon, I told you she won’t forget about you. Trust me. I wouldn’t lie to you, would I?”

Milhouse puffed out his cheeks. “Maybe, to make me feel better.”

Snorting, Bart shook his head. “I don’t need to lie to you to make you feel better, Milhouse.”

Sighing, Milhouse stared down at his hands. “Oh yeah? Then can you skip to making me feel better.”

Bart nodded shyly. “If you say so.” He whispered, leaning forward and gently kissing his best friend on the lips. He pulled apart quickly, just as he heard someone start climbing up the ladder. Looking to the side and seeing Yancy, Bart stared over at him, still in shock.

“Come down, your mom wants to talk to you.”

“Alright.” Milhouse said quietly, walking forward in an almost trance-like state, Bart following him anxiously.

Luann pulled her son to her chest and hugged him tightly upon seeing him, walking him back over to their home, leaving Bart behind to wonder if he made the right choice to kiss his friend.

The next day, Milhouse came over early in the morning and the two boys sat, quietly playing video games. “So, how’d it go with your mom when you went home?” Bart asked, trying to swallow the frog in his throat.

“It went well. She promised me that she won’t forget me and said I could be her best man. She said I can bring you as a plus one. I did get scolded for locking Bender and Fry in the bathroom, though, even though Mom said they just broke her mirror and passed out in the tub. They nearly flooded the bathroom, though.”

“Really? That’s awesome. I’m glad it all worked out. And that sounds like them.” Bart swallowed again, trying to keep his eyes on his controller, even though he couldn’t help but steal a few glances. Suddenly, he set his controller down. “Hey, are you mad at me for yesterday?”

Shaking his head, Milhouse refused to look at his friend. “No, I’m just still a little shocked, I guess.” Unconvinced, Bart tried his best to focus his attention back on his game until Milhouse stood up out of nowhere. “Hey, I gotta get home. I think Mom texted me.”

Bart glanced at his friend up and down. “But I didn’t think you brought your phone this time?”

Milhouse shrugged and left the room and the home, leaving a feeling of confusion and guilt in Bart’s gut. Maybe Milhouse wasn’t angry with him, but he wasn’t happy with him, either.

The day of the wedding finally came up, and everything was going to plan. Bart sat in his reserved seat near the front and messed with his dress-shirt buttons most of the ceremony, bored out of his mind with all the talking. When the couple finally threw their individual bouquets and one smacked Fry in the face, Bart let out a loud laugh and cheer.

Still, Milhouse stayed glued to his mom’s side and Bart replayed the scene from a few week’s ago over and over ahead. He was sure Milhouse still wasn’t ready to talk to him or deal with him about all of it, so Bart took one of the free boxes of apple juice and sat beside the robot, frowning down at his drink.

“Say, what’s your deal?” Bender asked, and Bart shrugged.

“Just heartbroken, I guess.”

“What’s with you humans and being heartbroken? That sounds like something you need checked out.” Giving a fake cough, he corrected himself. “I mean, us humans. Anyways, why are you heartbroken, kid?”

“I kissed my best friend a few weeks ago, and he’s barely talked to me since. I think he’s mad at me.”

“Oh, the classic kiss and miss. Just get him alone and talk it out.”

“Is that what you and that Fry guy did when we locked you in the restroom?”

“Huh? Oh, not really, we haven’t worked that out yet. Fry said he was going to enter another dimension and smashed the mirror to get into it, then peed in the tub, slipped in it and passed out. I put some sharpie on his face and pretended to sleep so he would blame the sharpie doodles on someone else when he woke up.”

“Did he?”

“Yeah, he blamed your little boyfriend’s mom, for some reason.”

Snorting, Bart looked over at where Fry was doing the hustle next to his brother, even though the cupid shuffle was currently playing. “Why don’t you go and dance with him? Might lead you two to working things out.”

Bender shrugged. “And embarrass myself?”

“You can’t let him embarrass himself alone, though, right?”

Laughing, Bender stood up and slapped Bart on the back. “Yeah, alright.”

Bart watched for a minute, entertained by how Bender walked up to Fry and started doing what looked like some sort of salsa, even though the cupid shuffle was finally ending and transitioning to a slow dance song. Bart almost didn’t even notice Milhouse walking up to him.

“Hey, Bart?”

The other boy’s attention flashed back to reality, staring at his best friend. “Oh, hey Milhouse…”

Milhouse rubbed at the back of his head. “I’m still not really sure how I feel, but I think I’m starting to figure it out. For now, though, um… can I have this dance?”

Bart looked at the hand that Milhouse extended to him with a goofy smile. With a deep breath, he grabbed his best friend’s hand, dragging him onto the dance floor, twirling him around like a spinning top, both laughing mercilessly.


End file.
